I’m not an expert but I don’t think they were bad at painting. It’s just that the Church had a million rules about portraying biblical scenes. For example divine beings should not be portrayed as normal looking humans/animals. They had to be visibly different since they’re supposed to be ascended beings. Hence why for example baby Jesus was often portrayed as a tiny adult man more than just a regular baby. Or why some animals had human faces
This painting (and many other medieval works) makes me wonder how artists could be simultaneously so talented but also so bad at painting.
I’m not an expert but I don’t think they were bad at painting. It’s just that the Church had a million rules about portraying biblical scenes. For example divine beings should not be portrayed as normal looking humans/animals. They had to be visibly different since they’re supposed to be ascended beings. Hence why for example baby Jesus was often portrayed as a tiny adult man more than just a regular baby. Or why some animals had human faces